DHX Media has announced that it’s undertaking a company-wide rebrand and will be known as “WildBrain” going forward.
Up until now, Wildbrain has been the name of the company’s highly-successful kids’ entertainment YouTube channel. It will now be known as “WildBrain Spark.”
“Rebranding as WildBrain embraces our commitment to creativity, imagination and innovation, and our 360° approach to brand management,” said Eric Ellenbogen, the company’s newly-appointed CEO and Vice Chair, in a release. “For many years, our WildBrain group has been at the leading edge of the digital media business. As that landscape continues to rapidly evolve, now is time to unify all the parts of our Company under both the name and entrepreneurial culture that WildBrain represents.”
The rebrand to WildBrain includes a new logo and website, accompanied by the tagline – “Imagination runs wild.” The company will be exhibiting at the upcoming Brand Licensing Europe and MIPCOM, under the new banner.
Shareholders will be asked to approve a special resolution to change the corporate name to WildBrain at the upcoming 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders in December. Following approval, the Company also expects to change its ticker on the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ to “WILD”. Until then, it will continue to report under the DHX Media name and trade under its present symbols, DHX on the TSX and DHXM on the NASDAQ.
Q4 revenue up driven by distribution
The company’s Q4 2019 revenue rose 12% to $108.8 million, up from $97.4 million in Q4 2018, driven by higher revenue from distribution (excluding WildBrain) which rose 46% to $16.6 million, including several large library deals with Netflix, Youku and Virgin Media. Full year revenue grew to $439.8 million, versus $434.4 million in Fiscal 2018.
WildBrain continued to grow its online audience with YouTube views up 29% to 9.3 billion in Q4 2019 and 46.5 billion of minutes of videos watched, up 19% for the quarter, year-over-year.
The company also continued to see growing royalties from consumer products derived from owned IP (Intellectual Property), primarily driven by Peanuts, which translated into a 22% rise in revenue to $38.6 million in Q4 2019 vs Q4 2018. Full year revenue rose 11% to $160.3 million, compared to $144.7 million in Fiscal 2018.
As part of strategic repositioning of the company’s management team aimed at streamlining the organizational structure and reducing costs, Aaron Ames, Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed CFO. Ames succeeds Doug Lamb, who will remain with the company in an advisory role until Oct. 31. The COO position will not be replaced.
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